The present invention relates to a package for enclosing a plurality of sheets of material, such as a stack of x-ray film.
It is known to provide a light tight package for holding a stack of sheets of x-ray film or the like. The package may comprise a pouch or bag for holding the sheets, and a leader that projects from an end of the pouch. Such a film package can be placed in a magazine or cassette having a spindle, and the leader is attached to the spindle. Then the magazine or cassette is closed and the spindle rotated to strip the packaging material from the stack of sheets. Thereafter, the magazine is provided to a laser printer or other apparatus having a light tight compartment wherein the sheets can be removed seriatim for use. Alternatively, the package can be manually opened in a light tight environment and sheets removed and loaded into light tight cassettes of the kind used for making x-rays of patients. Packages and magazines of the kind described above are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,849, issued May 28, 1991; in U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,686, issued Sep. 17, 1991; and in Italian Patent No. 1,062,043.
A leader on a package of the kind mentioned above sometimes needs to be relatively large in order to reach from the pouch which holds the film sheets to the spindle of the magazine. The leader can be integral with the pouch, or formed separately and secured to the pouch. Either way, the leader projects away from the pouch. Generally, to facilitate shipment and handling prior to placement in a magazine, the leader is folded onto one side of the package and may be secured to that side temporarily by pressure sensitive tape, for example, as disclosed in the before-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,686. While this arrangement works satisfactorily, it can create a problem when film is loaded into the package. More specifically, some production equipment has a hopper that holds a stack of empty packages having the end of the pouch opposite from the leader open to receive a stack of film sheets and a film carrier. Because the package leader projects from the pouch, the package does not fit well in the hopper. A better fit to the hopper can be achieved if the package, including the leader, is rectangular in shape. This, of course, must be achieved without adversely affecting the use of the leader in a magazine for pulling the package from the stack of film sheets.